The critic David Ehrlich, senior editor for Film.com has released his top movies of the year in his annual video montage format. It's a really cool mash-up of the best movies of the year, set to various songs from the year:
David Ehrlich's Top 25
REVIEW: "The World's End" (2013) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost. Dir. Edgar Wright
The World's End is the final chapter in Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, following two of my favorite comedies, Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007). I wish I could say this last entry lived up to the inventive hilarity of the first two, but for me this one is a bit too clever for its own good and short on the big laughs that have me on the floor every time I watch the others. But by no means does it have nothing to recommend it, and it's still a funny and somewhat sad rumination on childhood friendships and the way life doesn't turn out as you expected it to when you were young.
The movie as always, stars Simon Pegg in the lead role and Nick Frost as his sidekick, and co-writer Pegg deserves credit, along with Wright, for figuring out how not to have him play the same character in any of the three films. Here Pegg turns it upside down again as Gary King, a middle-aged drug addict and alcoholic who's no more responsible or mature than he was at 18 years old, when he and his loyal buddies first attempted the "Golden Mile," a pub crawl that includes twelve pubs in their hometown of Newton Haven. At the time, the guys never completed the crawl, and Gary, in the beginning of a mid-life crisis, decides at once to round up the gang to finish what they started twenty years earlier. He goes about it one by one, assembling his old pals, all of whom are now either married or settled, and all of whom have grown up and are reluctant to join in Gary's ultimate quest, especially Frost as Andy, who was once the victim of his and Gary's youthful and reckless antics, and decidedly not eager to relive it.
Nonetheless, for reasons none of them quite seem to know themselves, they do gather together again and travel back to Newton Haven, only to find that the town and the people in it are changed, somehow. The movie is actually quite serious for the majority of the first section of the film, content to make some rather astute observations about how childhood friendships change and as adults we can never quite recapture the past, and as a result the film fails to establish its comedic rhythms early, making us think we're going to be experiencing a much more poignant, almost dramatic reunion of old friends. But of course, things take a sudden left turn at the halfway point, as we begin to see that the town actually, literally has changed, and been inhabited by robots/pod people who are out to homogenize Newton Haven along with the rest of the world.
When the guys realize it's a kind of apocalypse, the comedy gets a bit more raucous, but always swerves back to make its points about the failure and disappointments of Gary's adult life in particular. Because of this, the tone is a bit uneven throughout the film (even though the start of the apocalypse does bring the movie's biggest laughs in an outrageous bathroom brawl sequence), and in an even crazier left turn (or maybe at this point it's right), the climactic ending piles on a wildly complicated sci-fi twist that threatens to wipe out all the movie's poignant seriousness from the first half. The last twists in particular were unnecessary for me, as the sudden tonal change makes the movie feel like it wasn't quite sure what it wanted to be, but the cast is very good and still make the movie worth seeing, especially if you're a fan of the first two films in the trilogy. Nick Frost in particular is very effective in this, both in his usual physical comedy and surprisingly in the dramatic moments as well. Pegg and Frost always have the kind of chemistry that comes across as old and fast friends, and that timing and affection that exists between them carries every moment they're paired together. It's a collaboration you'd like to see go on, even outside the Cornetto trilogy, and I hope it will. I'd see anything they do together.
* * 1/2
Visual Effects Shortlist Announced
The Oscar nominees for visual effects will come from the following list of ten movies. The biggest snub seems to be Man of Steel, which I'll admit makes me happy in a petty sort of way (although I'll go ahead and admit the effects were much better than World War Z):
- Elysium
- Gravity
- The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
- Iron Man 3
- The Lone Ranger
- Oblivion
- Pacific Rim
- Star Trek Into Darkness
- Thor: The Dark World
- World War Z
Out of those, what's your best guess for the five nominees? I'm thinking Gravity, Hobbit, Pacific Rim, Star Trek Into Darkness and maybe Iron Man 3? I don't think there's a lot of suspense over the win in this category though- Gravity takes it in a walk.
VIDEO: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
The latest Hobbit production diary is out, which shows us some of the secrets of the making of part 2 of the trilogy, out Dec. 13th. I'm getting more and more excited for this one, since the early word on it is that it's very good, much better than the first film and closer to the original LoTR trilogy.
Rolling Stone Top 10
Peter Travers' top 10 list is out. He has un uncanny knack for predicting the Best Picture nominees, with nine of his top 10 choices last year making the cut:
- 12 Years a Slave
- Gravity
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- Before Midnight
- Her
- American Hustle
- Captain Phillips
- Nebraska
- Blue Jasmine
- Inside Llewyn Davis
It looks to me like he's probably hit the mark again, more or less. My guess is all of these make it into the Best Picture lineup except Blue Jasmine and Before Midnight. That would leave one open slot for something else, probably Saving Mr. Banks.
TRAILER #3: "The Monuments Men"
The latest trailer for Monuments Men brings back the comedic tone, as the movie is now coming out in February and safely nestled away from Oscar season. Now coming out February 7th, 2014.
Time Magazine Top 10
Time has the honor of being the first publication to reveal its top 10 list for the year. From their film critic Richard Corliss:
- Gravity
- The Great Beauty
- American Hustle
- Her
- The Grandmaster
- Furious 6
- Frozen
- The Act of Killing
- 12 Years a Slave
- The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Ok, first of all, Furious 6? Really? But apparently Corliss has a thing for the whole Fast & Furious series in general. And I have to say this makes me a lot more curious about The Hobbit, which he describes as "a splendid achievement, close to the grandeur of Jackson's Lord of the Rings films." Here's hoping!
TRAILER: "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
The first trailer for the Spider-Man sequel is here. The movie is coming out May 2, 2014.
CLIP #1: "Veronica Mars"
Good news fellow VM fans! The first clip from the new movie is out, along with a release date and official title, so I can finally stop calling it the Veronica Mars movie. They went with the smart choice, which is to simply call it Veronica Mars- easy to remember. Veronica Mars is coming out on March 14, 2014 and I'm already counting down the days. The first scene is familiar in tone and Kristen Bell seems slide back in to her role with ease- looks like they got it right so far.
December Movies Are Here
It's Christmastime and the new batch of movies for the month of December are here! This time it's ten great choices for Christmas, including one of my favorites, The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is really just as good as some of the earlier versions of the Dickens classic. Visit our Movie of the Month page to check out the description for December and click here for the complete list of ten holiday flicks to kick back and enjoy this Christmas season. Happy Holidays everyone!
NBR Names "Her" the Best Film of 2013
Another surprise result! The National Board of Review announces their winners and has feted Spike Jonze's Her as the best film of the year. The rest of their winners, as you can see below, match nothing of what won the NYCC yesterday. Looks like we have a wide open Oscar race, people:
- Best Film: Her
- Best Director: Spike Jonze (Her)
- Best Actor: Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
- Best Actress: Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)
- Best Supporting Actor: Will Forte (Nebraska)
- Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station)
- Best Original Screenplay: Inside Llewyn Davis
- Best Adapted Screenplay: The Wolf of Wall Street
- Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises
- Male Breakthrough Performance: Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)
- Female Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color)
- Best Directorial Debut: Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station)
- Best Foreign Language Film: The Past
- Best Documentary: Stories We Tell
- William K. Everson Film History Award: George Stevens, Jr.
- Best Ensemble: Prisoners
- Spotlight Award: Career Collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio
- NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Wadjda
- Creative Innovation in Filmmaking Award: Gravity
NBR also releases a top ten list of the best films of the year. Here they are, in alphabetical order:
- 12 Years a Slave
- Fruitvale Station
- Gravity
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- Lone Survivor
- Nebraska
- Prisoners
- Saving Mr. Banks
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
- The Wolf of Wall Street
As you can see, no trace of American Hustle anywhere, and this group seemed to appreciate The Wolf of Wall Street more than the NY critics did. Others snubbed are Captain Phillips, All is Lost, Blue Jasmine and The Butler. Gotta say though, I'm loving how much the critics are coming through for Fruitvale Station so far. Here are the rest of NBR's top film lists, also in alphabetical order:
Top 5 Foreign Language Films:
- Beyond the Hills
- Gloria
- The Grandmaster
- A Hijacking
- The Hunt
Top 5 Documentaries:
- 20 Feet From Stardom
- The Act of Killing
- After Tiller
- Casting By
- The Square
Top 10 Independent Films:
- Ain't Them Bodies Saints
- Dallas Buyers Club
- In a World...
- Mother of George
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Mud
- The Place Beyond the Pines
- Short Term 12
- Sightseers
- The Spectacular Now
Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman
Gal Gadot, the 28-year-old Israeli model and actress best known for appearing in Fast & Furious 6 is set to star as Wonder Woman in the upcoming Zack Snyder-helmed Batman/Superman movie. At long last, Wonder Woman is finally coming to the big screen, although in what capacity is still unknown. She may just be a glorified cameo. I'm on record as hating Man of Steel and expecting this movie to be a complete disaster, so frankly, I'm a little sad that Wonder Woman's first appearance on the big screen isn't going to be in her own movie, but I suppose this is better than nothing. Right? What do you think?
